Frozen Rage
by yafromuk
Summary: Rukia chooses to do nothing when Ichigo's hollow takes control.


Rukia tried to narrow her vision, to be aware of nothing but the rain and the darkness of the night. If she focused on the silver whirlings of the rain she could ignore the figure that stood nearby, the nightmare figure that had taken the place of her friend and comrade. The nameless Arrancar they had been fighting was dead, and the hollow in Ichigo's body was now turning to regard her. Zanpaktou extended, he seemed to be challenging her to raise her sword, but Sode no Shirayuki hung in nerveless fingers. Once on a night long ago, Rukia had faced down another man, a friend, a comrade, and the subject of her girlish fantasies, and she had done the 'right' thing. But now looking at the defiled form of the man she had grown to love beyond all childhood fantasy, she could not raise her sword. The rain falling on her face provided the tears she would not shed. The hollow regarded her curiously. "You won't fight me," he stated.

Rukia said nothing, but her lack of response was answer enough.

"So you submit to me."

The zanpaktou held so uselessly in her hand fell to the wet grass. In her mind, Rukia could hear Sode no Shirayuki screaming in futile rage.

The hollow moved closer, zanpaktou still extended towards her. "Do you submit?"

"Yes"

The hollow moved even closer, blocking her vision of everything but that burning eye set in blackness, the white mask, the twisted features. His cruel grin grew wider. He was almost touching Rukia now, close enough to draw her into an embrace and close enough to kill her easily.

Rukia willed her eyes to close, to block out this sight. She wanted to see Ichigo in her mind's eye as he had been, not this cruel parody of him. But she had faced death before with eyes wide open, and some shred of strength, some inner stubbornness refused to fully submit to death. She knew that by standing aside, by failing to fight she was likely dooming others to death and worse, and somehow she couldn't bring herself to care about that, or about anything. Somewhere else, behind the barrier of numbness behind the spiraling rain and howling wind, other parts of herself were screaming at her to act. But she did nothing.

The hollow eyed Rukia, assessing her. With his free hand he reached out touching her cheek, wiping away the rain that fell in lieu of tears. She did not flinch away from his touch, she did not move or react, Rukia simply met the Hollow's gaze without fear, without anything at all. If she could have worked up enough emotion to care, she would have hoped that her death would be quick. After all, it would be so much easier if the hollow simply killed her here and now. She wouldn't have to worry about the numbness fading and of the guilt and fury she would feel later, she would simply cease to be.

The hollow was fast, faster even than Ichigo at top speed. She barely saw the attack as he swung and did not see that the blade had been flipped so that it was the flat, and not the edge that struck her. As she slipped into blackness she heard his whisper "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you, Rukia-mine?"

She awoke in Ichigo's bed surrounded by the familiarity that was his room, but everything was strange and wrong. The house was eerily silent, and Rukia could sense no signs of life nearby other than herself… and him. "_Hollows go after their families first_" she thought, and then banished the thought and all the implications it carried to the farthest reaches of her mind where Sode no Shirayuki still raged. She prefered to concentrate on the rain as it drummed against the roof and teased at the open window. The wind raged outside and blew into the room, creating a chill to match the numbness in Rukia's heart.

The Hollow hovered nearby; the darkness was omnipresent, but not absolute enough to hide that glowing eye. Rukia lay on the bed unbound, unrestrained, and unmolested. He had accepted her surrender and now she was bound by her word as fully as any chains could have held her.

"I'm relieved that you surrendered" he stated with a smile, far more chilling than Gin Ichimaru's had ever been. "I would have had you anyway Rukia-mine, but I prefer you undamaged." He crossed to the bed, sitting beside her, his body against hers, one hand on eaither side of her head as he leaned over her, the mask and burning eye filling her vision despite her desire to evade the sight.

She said nothing, letting the storm outside convey the fury she refused to express, refused to feel. Fury at herself and her weakness, fury at the hollow. Fury at Ichigo's weakness in letting this nightmare image into the world.

The hollow leaned towards her, in a parody of a lover's embrace. Half-kissing, half-biting he pressed his inhuman mouth against her lips, her cheek, her neck, leaving bloody marks of posession behind.

Rukia felt nothing. The pain of the bites was insignificant compared to the raging of her soul, but neither could prompt her into action. For the second time in her existence she submitted to a force more powerful than herself. Before her motive had been selfless and her conscience had been clear. Now her motive was selfish, and her self-hated was absolute.

The hollow continued it's path down her body, parting and removing clothing that blocked his way. He ripped and tugged at her uniform, biting, kissing, and marking the skin he exposed. With his head bent to his task, and the mask hidden in shadow, Rukia could almost pretend that it was Ichigo pressing his mouth to her body, Ichigo pressing his body to hers. She felt her vision blur, her consciousness shifting to survey the landscape that made up her inner world.

The hollow raised his head, his burning eye locking with hers, his mouth stretched in a parody of a smile. "We're going to have so much fun together Rukia-mine."

Trapped between states of consciousness, Rukia could see her inner world and also the hollow as it rose above her in the darkened bedroom. Her lack of resistence was no longer a voluntary decision. When she tried to move her hand, or wriggle her toes she found that her body was frozen, her control of it gone.

In her frozen inner world, Sode no Shirayuki raged soundlessly, and now there was a new presence invading the previously pristine landscape. A negative copy of Rukia lay nearby. Bound in frozen chains it slept, undisturbed. Trapped between the inner and outer worlds, Rukia was equally helpless in both.

The hollow grinned down at her. "All Shinigami have an inner hollow. I've found a way to wake yours up."

Now Rukia had a motive to fight, and even if she couldn't raise her zanpaktou against Ichigo's hollow, she could, and desperately wanted to fight her own inner invader. But she was frozen, both in mind and body.

The hollow continued its exploration of her body, as Rukia with growing horror watched the chains unwind from her negative copy.

"Don't be jealous Rukia-mine, I still want you, but your hollow and I will have such fun together."

The chains were almost completely unraveled. Sode no Shirayuki was soundlessly screaming, raging, beating on the frozen ground.

"Don't worry Rukia-mine, we'll let you out to play sometimes. You'll want to see what I, … what I and your other self can make of this world."

Rukia stood in her frozen world, frozen, helpless, unable to move or speak or stop the transformation, the awakening that was occuring. Her mind screamed with rage, but she was no longer free to resist or fight. Her copy's eyes opened, burning gold locked with violet and Rukia was cast entirely into the frozen world. Suddenly she could hear Sode no Shirayuki's cries, suddenly she could feel the cold, and suddenly she could move again. But she could not see the real world. She could not reach outside herself. She was trapped. Imprisoned inside her head, she could no longer hide behind the numbness that had shielded her before. Rukia felt the full weight of her actions and of her inaction.

Inside Rukia's mind, snow fell on the frozen land as it always had. Rukia was lost in horror and rage. She had unleashed a nightmare on the world. She had stood by when she could have fought, and now every death that followed would be her fault. In her inner world, Sode no Shirayuki had fallen silent and all was quiet. But somehow all Rukia could hear was the raging of the wind and rain that battered the real world, that matched the tempest she had unleashed, and that matched the fury in her soul.

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Author's Note: This is intended as a oneshot entry for the 2007 IchiRuki livejournal contest. However I could consider a sequal if there's enough interest. (evil grin)


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